By reliving the so-called “catch and release” approach of the past, the Biden administration is “facilitating illegal immigration,” said a former head of Customs and Border Protection on Saturday.
“In 2019, one of the factors that drove the unprecedented crisis was the fact that we have these significant gaps – one of which is that if you reach the border, you will be released to the United States, never to be heard from again,” Mark Morgan told “Cavuto Live” by Fox News.
“Under the Trump administration,” added Morgan, “this was stopped largely due to the protocol for the protection of migrants, the Remain in Mexico program.
SUPERVISORY REPUBLICANS WARN DHS OF IMPENDING HEALTH CRISIS AT THE BORDER, BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ‘PRINTED’ BIDEN POLICIES
He continued: “Now that this program has been terminated, but those who were already enrolled in the program – these are the people now who are being actively allowed into the United States, that everything they are doing is coming through a port of entry and now they are being allowed to enter. “
Not only are illegal immigrants being allowed to enter, but the Biden administration has removed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authority to legally arrest them when they cross the border illegally, he said.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are warning the Biden government of an impending health crisis on the southern border – warning that President Biden’s “reckless” policies and rhetoric are fueling this.
“Biden government policies that limit immigration enforcement and weaken border security, along with its proposal to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, are signaling to the world that our immigration laws can be violated with little or no consequence,” highlighted the ranking member, Rep. James Comer and 18 members of the Supervisory Committee wrote in a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
Since taking office, Biden has stopped building the wall on the southern border, moved to end the Migrants Protection Protocols (MPP) that keep migrants in Mexico, and tried to impose a 100-day pause on deportations – although it was blocked in response to a lawsuit. He also signed an order revoking the order of then President Trump ending the so-called “catch and release” policy.
Lawmakers note that a November injunction prevented Title 42 evictions – by which illegal immigrants caught at the border can be quickly returned for public health reasons – from being applied to unaccompanied children, and the Biden administration subsequently created an exception for UACs.
Republicans also point to the bill introduced by Biden and Democrats in Congress this week, which would grant millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and eliminate asylum restrictions.
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“Look, there have been conversations about alternatives to detention, but what is happening now that it is not even being used and we know that it is a failure anyway. Whether they put on an anklet, they just let go and don’t show up,” Morgan said .
Morgan continued, “There is really no monitoring … and now, because of the new enforcement restrictions, ICE will be banned. If [illegal immigrants] don’t show up for an audience, [ICE is] it will be forbidden to go after them and stop them, and try to remove them. I mean, we are seeing a new era in which our country is facilitating illegal immigration in this country. “
Adam Shaw of Fox News contributed to this report.